The Azerbaijani authorities, specifically President Ilham Aliyev, ignore the appeals and demands of international humanitarian and cultural organizations, historians, archeologists and statesmen and continue their policy of spreading falsehood.They present the centuries-old Armenian sanctuaries of Arzach as an ′′ old Udinian religious legacy ′′ (Udinen or Uden are a small Caucasian ethnicity). It is obvious that by calling the Armenian sacred buildings in the areas they control, Azerbaijan is trying to implement its political program.
The Armenian public was horrified by the destruction of the ′′ John the Baptist Church ′′ in Shushi, also known as the ′′ Green Church ′′ (Kanach Jam) and the destruction of the ′′ Zoravor Surb Astvatsatsatsin Church ′′ in Mekhakavan (Jebrail), which, as documented by BBC, took place months after the war ended.
Recently, the Armenian ′′ Surb Astvatsatsin Church ′′ was declared Albanian (Caucasian Albania) in the Hadrut region occupied by Azerbaidjan.
The president of Azerbaijan claims Armenians fake the inscriptions on the church. But it is a historical fact that this ′′ Surb Astvatsin church ′′ in Tsakuri village of Hadrut region dates back to the 17. th century and is the only church preserved from the Armenian Tsaghkavank monastery complex. This is how Aliyev, who continues Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian politics, creates a reason for acquiring Armenian sacral and profane monuments.
Contrary to the claims of the Azerbaijani propaganda machine, it is a historical fact that Aghvank (Caucasian Albania) has nothing to do with the current Republic of Azerbaijan regarding its cultural heritage.
In Aghvank, one of the most important Armenian spiritual centers, the Catholicosate of Aghvan, operated. There is a lot of historical evidence of this, among them in the works of Pliny the Younger (1th-2. th c. ), Plutarch (1th-2. th c. ), Koryun (5. th century ), Pavstos Buzand (5. th century) ), Movses Kagankatvatsi (10. th century) ), and other authors of the Middle Ages. Thousands of cross stones, chapels, churches and monasteries - silent witnesses of the Armenian heritage that have been in existence for centuries - are still waiting for the prayers of Christian Armenians.
We strongly condemn this policy of the Azerbaijani authorities and again call on the international community to do everything possible to stop the destruction of sacral and profane monuments of Artsakh that are part of the World Heritage.
Committee on the Conservation of the Sacred and Cultural Heritage of Artsakh.
Holly Etchmiadzin
March 25., 2021